Jared Harris is one of the most successful contemporary British actors. On his account, participation in such popular TV shows as "Crown", "Fringe", "Mad Men". The most famous films of Jared Harris are the detective Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and the teenage fantasy The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. In total, the actor's creative career includes more than 50 films and series.
Biography
Harris was born in London in 1961 and was the middle of three children in a family. His father is Irish actor Richard Harris, and his mother is Welsh-born actress Elizabeth Reese-Williams. Jared's older brother Demian is a well-known television director, while younger brother Jamie followed in his parents' footsteps and became an actor.
Jared Harris received his bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1983. In the same year, he made his first film "Darkmoor".
First roles
Harris first appeared on the screen in 1989, playing inmelodrama "Dossier on Rachel". This was followed by a role in Ron Howard's drama Far, Far Away. Together with him, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman played in the film. Despite a stellar cast, the film received mixed reviews from critics. We were pleased only with the box office - with a budget of 60 million dollars, the picture collected 137 million at the box office.
In 1992, Harris had a small role in the historical film The Last of the Mohicans, based on the novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper. The film won an Oscar for Best Sound and was critically acclaimed.
In 1994, the actor played a supporting role in Oliver Stone's crime thriller Natural Born Killers. The main roles went to Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson. The film received mixed reviews from critics, some saw a deep philosophical meaning in it, while others were dissatisfied with the abundance of too violent scenes. Box office grossed $50m against a budget of $34m
Further career
In the 90s, Harris starred a lot, but mostly he got supporting roles. In 1994, the filmography of Jared Harris was replenished with the first horror film - in the vampire horror "Nadia" he played the role of Edgar. A year later, the actor got the role of Jimmy Rose in the drama "Smoke" directed by Wayne Wang. In Wan's next film, Down in the Face, the sequel to Smoke, Harris returned to incarnate the Jimmy Rose character. At the same timeI had to work on the western "Legends of the Wild West", in which Harris also got a small role.
The actor played the first major role in his film career in 1996, playing the artist Andy Warhol in the biographical drama I Shot Andy Warhol. The film is partly based on the biography of radical feminist Valerie Solanas, portrayed on screen by Lili Taylor. Commercially, the film was not a success - the box office was only $2 million.
In 1998, the actor played in the sci-fi film Lost in Space. The film was directed by Stephen Hopkins, who previously worked on the thriller "Ghost and Darkness".
In 2002, Harris starred with Adam Sandler in the comedy Reluctant Millionaire. The film was commercially successful, but both viewers and critics had mixed opinions about it. This film was not awarded any awards.
The most famous project the actor has worked on is Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Jared Harris played the role of Professor Moriarty in it. The film was a box office hit and all fans of the Guy Ritchie franchise are looking forward to the release of the third part.
Jared Harris' films have usually been a hit with audiences, and the teenage fantasy The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones was no exception. However, unflattering reviews from film critics put an end to a possible sequel to the picture.
In the horror "Poltergeist", a remakefilm of the same name by Toub Hooper, Harris played the role of Kerrigan Burke.
In the television filmography of the actor, special attention should be paid to the drama series "Mad Men", on which he worked for three years (from 2009 to 2012). The series was watched by more than 2 million viewers.
In 2016, Harris auditioned for the role of King George VI in the historical series The Crown. For this role, the actor was awarded several British Academy Film Awards.
Harris is currently working on the mini-series The Terror, based on the best-selling novel by Dan Simmons.
Private life
In 1989, Harris married Jacqueline Goldenberg. Already in the early 90s, the couple divorced. The second time the actor married in 2005 to actress Emily Fox, daughter of Edward Fox and Joanna Davis. This union was also short-lived - the actors broke up in June 2010
In 2013, the actor married for the third time to Allegra Rigio. The spouses have no children.
